Re: grading ourselves to death

Eric Crump (wleric@SHOWME.MISSOURI.EDU)
Thu, 5 Sep 1996 01:07:51 -0500


On Thu, 5 Sep 1996, Darlene Sybert wrote:
> areas after the class is over. Do they keep practicing? I don't know,
> but it's just like being a parent or a cowboy (you can lead a horse to
> water, but you can't make it drink).

Thanks Darlene. This old saying points right at the heart of what's wrong
with curricula (not just any particular curriculum, but *curricula*
itself!): These schemes almost always concentrate effort on leading horses
to water, forgetting this bit of wisdom in our lore, forgetting that
thirst is the key! You can lead a horse to water, but *there's no point*
if it doesn't want to drink.

We not only lead our students to water whether they are thirsty or not,
but we then proceed to critique their drinking abilities, adding insult.

--Eric Crump